Sign up for Chelmsford's Curbside Composting Program
Reducing food waste is one of the best actions you can take to reduce green house gas emissions.
Sign up for Chelmsford’s new curbside food waste composting program in partnership with Black Earth and get more information at this page which will be updated as the program progresses:
https://www.chelmsfordclimate.org/chelmsford-composting-program/
Calculate Your Carbon Footprint
The most effective action you can directly take to combat climate change is to reduce your carbon emissions. You might want to know how much carbon is directly or indirectly attributable to you. That will also give you a baseline against which to measure your progress.
Below you will find a few calculators you can play with to see how big you footprint is and what actions shrink it the most.
Carbon Calculator
Cool Climate Calculator
The website CoolClimate has a free calculator for individuals that is slick, comprehensive, and easy to use. To bring it up go to Tools -> Household Calculator. It tries to get you to pledge actions to reduce your footprint. So on the Take Action tab looking at the filters you can get a sense of the impact of certain actions. I (Tom Amiro) couldn’t figure out why I get a footprint of 17 MTons, which is way more than other calculators.
Ecological Footprint Calculator
The website footprintcalculator.org has a very cutesy calculator that is easy to use, but also time consuming to complete. They also are kind of intrusive with efforts to get you to sign up for their newsletter and donate. Unlike the other calculators, this one is about ecological friendliness and not just carbon emissions. So it gives a metric of how many earths it would take to support your lifestyle. But if you look at Details at the end you can get the actual number for carbon emissions. Given the information it gets from you, it is really questionable how accurate it can be. A lot of the questions are very subjective and it doesn’t seem to get at your total consumption of goods and services.
Help to Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom and Everywhere
A Concord-based advocacy group is spearheading a coalition of area organizations in opposition to a massive hangar expansion on the north fringe of Hanscom Field off Hartwell Road in Bedford. Elders Climate Action, an organization which inspired CCAT, and many MA environmental groups are taking this issue on because it could have big repercussions throughout the country.
We all need to work toward reducing (planet warming) carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. A passenger jet has an enormous carbon footprint, but distributed across 100s of passengers, the per-person footprint is much smaller. Private jets result in excessive amounts of carbon pollution per person. Until these jets incorporate green means of propulsion, they should not be expanded.
See the coalition’s website dedicated to stopping private jet expansion for its compelling advocacy against private jet expansion.
Here is an article about this coalition that will help inform you about what’s going on in our own backyard.
- Kannan Thiruvengadam of Eastie Farm in East Boston highlighted the urgency of action to fight climate injustice.
- Neil Rasmussen, president of Save Our Heritage, presented recent research on the impacts of the proposed development on state and municipal climate goals.
- Bill McKibben, internationally recognized climate change expert and activist, addressed why he calls Hanscom a “zombie project from the fossil fuel era.”
- Dan Zackin, Legislative Coordinator 350 Mass, briefly discussed the Make Polluters Pay campaign.
Please Sign the Petition
Review and Act on the CEAS Climate Action Plan
The Clean Energy and Sustainability (CEAS) committee’s plan will help us meet the “2050 Net Zero” goals established by the Commonwealth and adopted for Chelmsford at Spring Town Meeting 2021. Following the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s Municipal Net Zero Playbook, the plan describes five primary actions we can take in Town over the next 25 years: 1) increase use and generation of solar energy; 3) increase energy efficiency of our buildings; 4) electrify heating and cooling of buildings; 5) drive more electric vehicles.
- Read the draft posted on the town website
- Familiarize yourself with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s Municipal Net Zero Playbook
- Check out the Massachusetts incentives for energy audits and weatherization
- Check out the Federal incentives for electric vehicles and building energy improvements
- Choose "Chelmsford Choice” for savings on electricity costs and options to increase your use of renewable electricity
- Send comments on the plan to committee member Bern Kosicki (kosicki@verizon.net) with a subject line "Action Plan Comment"
Carbon Calculator
Use Renewable Energy
- Opt-Up to renewable energy on your electric bill through Chelmsford Choice (this alone will cut your emissions by 20%)!
- Install solar panels, if feasible. You can get them for free through something called a Power Purchase Agreement.
- Weatherize your home (energy conservation reduces need for fuel). In MA, this is heavily subsidized or free through MassSave.
- Plan to install heat pumps when new heating system required
- Use your current car as long as you can, but then plan to replace it with an electric vehicle
Educate Yourself and Family
Getting to know more about climate change, the environment, and sustainability, is fun! There are so many great books and YouTube videos for you to experience. Take a look at this collection put together for you and your family. Check our recommendations, for information and/or inspiration!
Here’s a snip from the top of the graphical list put together by Tamar.
Go Zero Waste
It takes resources to make things. As an individual action you, can waste less. You can try to get to zero waste. Read the “Going Zero Waste” pamphlet to get a better understanding about how you can embark on a journey toward zero waste.
Rethink Your Lawn
You can also give pollinators a better chance by mowing less. See No Mow May
Buy Less Stuff
- Everything we buy uses fossil fuel energy to produce
- Buy only what you need – avoid impulse purchasing
- Avoid cheap fashion – buy clothes to last
Eat Less Meat
- Animals require MANY times more land for grazing and growing feed than plants
- A football field of rainforest is cut down every 4 seconds mostly to raise cattle and grow their food
- Cows burp methane, a potent greenhouse gas 25x stronger than CO2
- Reduce food waste – decaying food in landfills produces methane
Eat Food with Lowest Supply Chain GHGs
Vote Green
- Vote for political candidates who support climate legislation
- Support elected officials working to address climate change
Talk about Global Warming!
People often argue that “talking” doesn’t provide any solutions but there’s no way to get to a solution if people don’t believe in the problem. In the video below, you’ll hear how to get people to believe there’s a problem so that they want to accomplish a solution. The objective is to “win the hearts and minds” of people who may not be aware of environmental issues, or who may be on the other end of the political spectrum. You are here on this page now because someone talked to you about environmental issues. Simply providing people with action items (like the list above) won’t accomplish anything unless the people reading that list actually believe what you’re saying and understand they can play an active role in helping to find a solution.
Reduce your digital footprint
- Turn off your screen during Zoom meetings except when raising hand and speaking or greeting
- Put less photos in your email
- Read more books and stream fewer movies